The Dread of Blight
by LunaHiw
Summary: It's just before the Kanto tournament and Rikkai are preparing for their third consecutive win in the nationals when... Yukimura suddenly collapses. This will follow how the different people deal with this situation.


Hi. Em.. I've recently entered into the PoT fandom so I'm still kinda new to the characters. This is my first PoT fanfic and I'll try my best! I really hope you like this first chapter (even though it's rather short).  
Also, I've put the rating as T due to the fact that I will go into the psychology of it a lot.

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There was a sudden _thud_ and an almost inaudible grunt. Dark blue curls against the asphalt. His lips slightly parted as short breaths panted out weakly. His long lashes rested against his cheeks from his closed eyes. Slowly, slowly, he seemed to be shrinking into the ground, thinning out into nothing, fading away...

"Yukimura!"

Sanada sat up straight, the sheets moving as wildly around him as his heart in his chest. A nightmare? Another one? It must have been at least the fourth one in the period of a week. Why could he not get the image of his collapsed body out of his head? Ever since that day by the side of the trains...

With a frown he got out of bed. He might as well train. He wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again anyway, that much he had learnt. The sun hadn't even gone up as he walked quietly through the house, towards the dojo – not that that was something unusual in itself, but it was even earlier than normal. He needed to see him soon. Sleeping this little wasn't good. It would affect his results in school, training and his duties as the vice-captain. And that... that was even more important now that Yukimura was gone.

...gone...?

No, not gone. Just... absent. Late, maybe even. But he'd be back. Definitely. So he needed to uphold their standard, not just in the club, but also in the upcoming tournament.

 _Slash._

The sound of him hitting the ground behind him.

 _Slash._

The image of how pale his skin looked against the hard, dark ground.

 _Slash._

The quiet panic that was still surrounding him even at that moment.

Soon enough, the sun's rays peaked up from behind the mountains, into the training room and it was time for school. School... Concentrating properly on classes, even on practice, seemed nearly impossible with the recent events. For once, Sanada felt utterly relieved as their practice finally ended and he was allowed to leave. However, where he aimed his steps after that ending was not home.

Every time he put down his feet, an ominous, sombre sound echoed between the bleak hospital walls. It almost made him feel so apprehensive he wanted to turn around and actually go home. Nonetheless, he was soon standing in front of a closed door, with all left to do to knock.

 _Knock, knock, knock..._

He almost hoped for it to remain quiet, but there it was. A calm, almost graceful "Come in". Sanada drew a deep breath before opening the door, stepping inside. The blue eyes blinked in surprise as they met his brown ones.

"Sanada?"

Sanada was sitting stiffly next to his bed, his hands on his knees and the brim of his cap hiding his eyes as he stubbornly kept his gaze on a crack on the floor. The longer he stared at it, the thicker it somehow seemed to grow.

"You came to visit?" Sanada was suddenly pulled out of his in-depth thoughts about the growing crack at the sound of Yukimura's voice. He nearly jumped up at it, how quickly he looked up at him. Yukimura still hadn't smiled at him. Not even as he arrived had he given him a polite smile. Did he not want him to visit?

"Yeah... With the tournament coming up, I wanted to know how it would be" Sanada answered, proper as always. At that, Yukimura actually smiled back at him, his eyes gleaming lightly with... was that amusement?

"Are you sure you didn't just want to see me?" he asked lightly, obviously teasing his old friend. Apparently not obvious enough as Sanada jumped lightly, unsure what to answer. Yukimura giggled lightly, but it soon faded out. As did his gaze, focused on top of his resting hands. "I won't be back in time for this tournament. You'll have to take care of it by yourself, Sanada."

"Yukimura...?" Sanada looked at him carefully. He couldn't actually mean...?

"I'm entrusting our third win to you" he added calmly, though his hands were softly clenched. No tennis... No Kanto tournament...

"I understand." Sanada nodded to him, serious. "You can trust me."

"Good." Yukimura swallowed thickly, looking at him seriously again. There was a different glint in his eyes now though. Determination, maybe? "I'll be back to lead our last win."

Sanada nodded seriously, looking right back at him.

"We'll be waiting."

Yukimura then smiled, a more relaxed smile than what he had done before that made Sanada feel like there had been a point in going there, to see him, to see it.

"Thank you for coming."

Sanada looked down, tilting the brim of his cap again, causing Yukimura to once more chuckle lightly. His old friend always did become embarrassed so easily.

"I'll come again."

"Good" Yukimura nodded calmly, serious. "I expect you to keep me updated with the club's progressions."

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Hi again. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I'd be happy for any comment or friendly critique. I'm looking to become better after all.


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